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What initially looked like a $29 million boost for the Columbus school district under a proposed
state funding plan could really be more like $4.4 million, school officials announced
yesterday.

The final number depends on whether Gov. John Kasich adds transportation funding to his proposed
state budget; the state has provided it before. But the district’s treasurer told the school board
that she has so little information that she can’t provide a forecast of the district’s
finances.

“ What we don’t know really outweighs what we do know,” Penny Rucker said last night.

That could make a big difference in the cuts that Superintendent Gene Harris plans to propose
for next school year. The district’s most-recent estimates show that the board would need to cut
$25 million for next year.

“The challenge is that we did not have a levy in the fall,” Harris told the board. “Our bottom
line is not as healthy as it would have been.”

A $29 million windfall could help offset those cuts, but that figure didn’t factor in the amount
the district spends to bus students and some other costs that the state has supported in the past.
Without those, the windfall would be only $4.4 million.

As the district waits to find out whether the state will continue to support those costs, Harris
laid out about 20 areas where the district could cut.

Possibilities include eliminating high-school busing, removing a period from the school day,
phasing out the district’s Reserve Officer Training Corps program, cutting some sports and reducing
the number of library specialists, school custodians and others.

“We have to consider things that are distasteful,” Harris said. “This is not happy, but these
are all things we have to look at.”

The district could reduce the number of positions of people entering data in school computers,
she said, “so we have better control.” The district is under investigation by the state auditor and
other authorities for changing student data.

The district also plans to save money by further trimming resources such as power and upkeep for
10 to 15 buildings that aren’t being used and haven’t been sold, Harris said.

She asked board members for feedback so she can bring them back a set of proposed cuts.

Board members defended some areas that Harris said could be cut. Some told Harris to go easy on
athletics, ROTC and professional development for teachers. They also asked for more data to
identify programs that don’t draw many students or aren’t very effective.

“The 400-pound elephant in the room is wage concessions from labor,” board member Mike Wiles
said, adding that he would support an across-the-board cut in wages.

An increase in retirements because of changes in the state retirement system could offset some
labor costs, Harris said, but the district won’t necessarily replace the retirees with teachers who
have less experience and lower salaries.

Board member Bryan O. Steward said he would prefer cuts in administrative salaries rather than
teachers’ wages.